Maptitude – GISCafe Voicehttps://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan
Just another GIS Blogs weblogWed, 16 Aug 2017 16:47:33 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.79101652State Legislative Districts Data Product Now Available for Entire U.S. from Caliperhttps://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2017/03/23/state-legislative-districts-data-product-now-available-for-entire-u-s-from-caliper/
https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2017/03/23/state-legislative-districts-data-product-now-available-for-entire-u-s-from-caliper/#respondThu, 23 Mar 2017 14:45:52 +0000https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/?p=4845Caliper has announced that the State Legislative Districts Data Product is now available for the entire USA or for a single U.S. state. Three area databases reflect the latest boundaries for Congressional Districts, State House/Assembly (lower chamber) districts, and State Senate (upper chamber) districts, according to company materials.

For legislators, for example, legislative district data with Maptitude mapping software will be able to help answer questions such as “Where are my addresses located?”

Pricing on the State Legislative Districts Data Product is $1,295 for the entire United States or $495 for a single state.

GISCafe Voice: How often will the Census data be updated?

Our products always ship with the most up-to-date Census and American Community Survey (ACS) information The current map layers include demographic variables derived from the 2015 American Community Survey (ACS) and 2010 Census, both conducted by the United States Census Bureau. Updates to the demographic data are made every single year and the updated boundaries are released when the data are published by the United States Census Bureau.

GISCafe Voice: What will the data be used for?

The demographic data included with the legislative boundaries can be used for a wide range of analysis, including racial, ethnic and income based comparisons. These layers are packed with essential information for corporate legislative affairs departments, lobbyists, political consultants, political parties, and anyone else involved in political affairs. Each legislative district includes 2010 Census counts for age, race, gender, ethnicity, and housing, as well as 2015 American Community Survey (ACS) data for income, occupation, education, language spoken, marital status, travel mode and time, housing value, and housing costs. By using the legislative district data with Maptitude mapping software, you will be able to answer questions such as “In which districts are my addresses located?” or “In which districts should I expend the most effort?”
GISCafe Voice: Will gerrymandering boundaries be considered in this data?

All congressional districts reflect the information published by the Census Bureau by the states by May 1, 2016, and were in effect during the November 2016 election.

The following states had changes for the 115th Congress:

Florida
Minnesota
North Carolina
Virginia

States provided updates for their boundaries used in the November 2016 elections for the session that began in January 2016. The following states or equivalents had changes to their state legislative districts for 2016:

GISCafe Voice: Does this data include political parties represented, or personal political information on people living in a particular district?

Each of the three layers includes District Name and District Code fields as well as 2010 Census and 2015 American Community Survey data, allowing you to easily add party and representative information by district code.

GISCafe Voice: How do you think this data may change the face of politics or the ability of state legislatures to accurately assess their constituencies?

The American Community Survey data provides vital information about the country. Data from ACS help determine how more than $400 billion of state and federal funding are distributed. Public officials use this data to assess the past and to plan for the future.

The Census Bureau counts the number of people living in the United States every decade, and the results support political boundary revisions. The primary reason for the establishment of the Census is set forth in the U.S. Constitution. The Constitution requires a population count to serve as the basis for the apportionment among the states of the members of the U.S. House of Representatives, with the provision that each state must have at least one representative.

Congressional districts are reapportioned among the states using a formula based on each state’s population and the total population of the country, and is simply a mathematical calculation.

Each state then redistricts to divide the state up into equal population districts. The widespread use of redistricting software has made the drawing of redistricting plans easier from a technical perspective, but changes to the data and the political and legal landscapes conspire to make the redistricting process at times contentious. Maptitude for Redistricting is a version of Maptitude designed to meet the needs of those involved, and is used by almost all state legislatures, political parties of every stripe, and public interest groups.

GISCafe Voice: Do you see that this data will help clear up some inaccuracies and problems forsome voters in the states, who may have felt their voices weren’t heard in the recent presidential election?

The American Community Survey data is the most comprehensive source of data about jobs, occupations, educational attainment, veterans, home ownership and other topics. Analysis of this data for Congressional and State Legislative districts give voice to all Americans.

]]>https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2017/03/23/state-legislative-districts-data-product-now-available-for-entire-u-s-from-caliper/feed/04845From the Exhibit Floor: Esri User Conference 2015https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2015/07/29/from-the-exhibit-floor-esri-user-conference-2015/
https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2015/07/29/from-the-exhibit-floor-esri-user-conference-2015/#respondWed, 29 Jul 2015 14:11:39 +0000http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/?p=4117A look at what is being demonstrated on the Exhibit Floor is a great way to see what is trending in the geospatial industry. Location, navigation, GIS positioning, sensors, geospatial intelligence, UAS, 3D, emergency response are just a few of the areas covered in the vast offerings seen throughout the week.

I met with Darren Cottage, vice president Sales and Marketing Geospatial and Traffic, Government sales manager, Kenneth Clay, and North American marketing manager and John Cassidy, general manager, NA Sales & Marketing, Geospatial and Traffic of TomTom to discuss the company’s direction, which included their work with various partners, including Esri, Maponics and CarahSoft.

Announced at the conference was the addition of TomTom’s navigable maps for 13 new countries. TomTom provides traffic content in 134 countries around the globe. TomTom also announced that its map and traffic information had been chosen by the University of Minnesota’s Accessibility Observatory as part of a new national accessibility data set. They will provide map and historical speed data to help analyze accessibility to jobs for driving and transit for metropolitan areas across the U.S.

The analysis of where people live and where jobs are is multimodal, according to Cassidy, and research is done leveraging TomTom’s strategy around the connected world.

TomTom is providing real time GIS data for many application, including for emergency GIS, and they also do pedestrian mapping and indoor mapping.

TomTom products are designed for a lot of consumer devices but also in car navigation, and in geospatial applications such as emergency response.

Clay, who presented on indoor mapping a new focus for TomTom, said that half a dozen of cities are available for demonstration of stadiums, big facilities, and retail establishments

TomTom maps are used to manage where ATM machines are, and for their maintenance. They are also addressing multiple locations for an address, sewer hookup, delivery, and consumer needs.

A nice show case where TomTom’s advanced city models were used is the 3D Story Map of the Convention Center in San Diego by startup SmarterBetterCities and Esri atarcg.is/1K8Q1id.

TomTom is providing traffic analysis for the Pan American games in Toronto. They also supported the London Olympics and support autonomous vehicle technology.

PinPoint-GIS from Septentrio

The company Septentrio has been around since 2000, and the recently acquired Altus Positioning Systems since 2008. Altus is the supplier of GNSS positioning and surveying systems and GIS, who recently merged with Septentrio, a company known for their work on Galileo, subcontracted to the European Space Agency in Leuven, Belgium.

Septentrio is a spinoff of a university electronics program, IMEC, the Center for NanoTechnology Unit. Their history in research has now evolved into creating scientific receivers for timing and scintillated, signal processing. Meanwhile Septentrio has expanded in the survey and GIS markets. Neil Vancans, vice president of Septentrio, said that they have a channel for surveying developed but there has been no channel for GIS. In Europe there is a channel for both.

Altus Positioning Systems provides simple, affordable high precision receivers that can be used in any tablet as a browser, and can publish into ArcGIS.

Septentrio announced a new software suite called PinPoint-GIS which makes GIS data collection and visualization straightforward. Septentrio’s PinPoint-GIS provides several methods of data collection, based on a standard web browser hosted on the Altus APS-NR2 and a mobile app integrated with Esri’s ArcGIS or other GIS mapping systems.

SAP is known worldwide as a leading provider of business applications, ERP, CRM solutions. With their SAP HANA they provide spatial information of which Hinnerk Gildhoff, Development Manager, SAP HANA/Spatial says 80% is geospatial. At Esri the company announced new capabilities to turbocharge spatial intelligence by simplifying, accelerating and geo-enabling access to enterprise.

“We aim to transform the big apps trend to real time apps, to take action where the data is,” said Gildhoff.

HANA is designed to help break down silos between enterprise and GIS system, and do analytics on a single system. It is an end-to-end platform for running applications. It has engines for running predictive analytics, can do unstructured data mining from Facebook and other social media and can provide geospatial capabilities.

Gildhoff said all applications in SAP are going spatial using the HANA processor as a spatial engine. The SAP Work Manager mobile app has added Esri feature layer integration and offline mapping capabilities.

In meeting with director of Strategy and Corporate Development, Chris Stern of Trimble, he spoke about how Trimble meets “industry specific challenges” through its core technologies and products. Esri, with whom Trimble has partnered for over 20 years, is organized more around vertical sectors. The two organizations share many joint customers. Their services and solutions include point data collection, mass data collection, aerial and ground based scanning, sensors, point clouds and imagery and integrated industry specific solutions.

Trimble is very focused on Big Data and the Internet of Things with sensors, laser scanning, and optical, bringing in major data this way. The new version of their UAS the UX5 and UX5 HP is a fixed wing unmanned aerial mapping system and the company showcased its new multi-rotor copter that can hover. It is useful for electric transmission inspection, emergency response, and damage reconnaissance. The UX5 and UX5 HP offer aerial data collection by offering complete systems with powerful technologies such as a robust design, a radically simplified workflow and reversed thrust and automatic failsafe procedures.

Trimble’s software eCognition takes content, extracts features and makes datasets. The company has an underlying set of software to access Esri. eCognition addresses the increased demand for 3D data.

“We’ve always been 3D, helping customers collect highly accurate X,Y and Z data and 3D models,” said Stern. “Now there is 3D in ArcGIS Pro and CityEngine. We have Trimble SketchUp 3D Design and the 3D Warehouse – the world’s largest online catalogue of 3D content.”

Stern talked about ArcGIS Earth and the fact that Trimble has 3D already. They have centimeter accuracy in the Trimble V10 imaging rover, with 12 integrated 60MP cameras taking in 360 degree views.

In the Trimble Business Center software, as part of a new feature set, the 360 degree image comes in, the user clicks on a point at the pixel level, and based on the original position, can give you distance of measurements.

Trimble UX5

Another feature is that when imagery is brought in, a set of measurements can be taken specifically for UAS.

With the new Trimble R1 receiver, one of Trimble’s newly introduced line of BYOD GNSS products, users go to the field with the phone with an IOS or Android smartphone or tablet with Trimble Terraflex software – for fast, efficient, geospatial data collection across a fleet of mixed devices that supports submeter accuracy. Their Spectra Precision MobileMapper 300 takes advantage of RTX mobile positioning to achieve centimeter accuracy with Android devices. The goal of these products is to achieve less scientific access to accurate data.

Trimble also introduced at the conference the latest version of its smart water mapping and work management cloud software, Trimble Unity version 2.0. According to company materials, the version adds new capabilities to support complex water, wastewater and stormwater industry asset maintenance planning and work execution workflows. The new release supports Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) GNSS mapping receivers for smart devices and cloud-based single sign-on integration with Esri ArcGIS Online.

Utility customers can search and organize various utility assets, including meters, pipelines, valves and hydrants with Trimble Unity version 2.0 advanced asset maintenance capabilities. These assets can be grouped into prioritized collections of work that can be assigned to crews for completion. The new features enable utilities to reduce the time and cost associated with water asset repair and installation work.

Stern noted that the new Esri GeoCollector includes Esri software of course, and Esri has added Trimble’s R1 and some other Trimble technologies to their offerings.

Summing up, Stern said that Trimble’s core technologies include hardware, software, and positioning/sensors. “We always bring all that together to help customers solve problems across a variety of industries,” he said.

The company HERE, Maps for Life, formerly NAVTEQ three years ago, is a Nokia business unit that brings together Nokia’s mapping and location businesses under one umbrella. HERE technology is based on cloud computing, where location data and services are stored on remote servers. Users can access the data on any device.

HERE provides new vector-based data for Esri’s StreetMap brand of mapping products. HERE captures location content that includes road networks, buildings, park and traffic patterns. It licenses or sells that content along with navigation services and location based solutions to other businesses.

HERE has maps in nearly 200 countries, offers voice guided navigation in 94 countries, provides live traffic information in 33 countries and has indoor maps available for about 49,000 unique buildings in 45 countries.

Reality Capture Solutions from Leica Geosystems

Outside the convention center on a trailer was the Leica Geosystems Pegasus: Stream which is said to “measure the invisible.” It is a reality capturing sensor platform for below and above ground mass feature digitization.

Startup Zone

Esri Start up companies who are called “emerging partners” were celebrated at a media event on Monday evening during the Map Gallery. Over 50 startups were exhibiting at the conference. Working with the Esri Startup team, TomTom built a premium content offering for large volume geocoding and routing called “StreetMap Premium for Startups,” a steeply discounted product designed just for those inside the Esri Startup Program.

MetroTech is partnering with both OSI and Esri to aggregate real-time traffic data, apply analytics and publish information that users can use to make decisions. Senior vice president of sales and service delivery, Robert Bruckner, says that traffic is “stuck in the 90s’ technology,” and that MetroTech provides the next generation of traffic analytics.

SenseFly’s eBee mapping drones were exhibited on the main Exhibit Floor but were considered in startup category. The various Styrofoam-appearing eBee models are very lightweight and come in various designs. The eMotion 3D mission planning feature takes elevation data into account when setting altitude of waypoints and resulting flight lines. The models are lightweight so they cannot damage other flying objects or electrical lines. Models are flown by computer, and one is battery operated on an SD card. You can use eBee’s postflight Terra 3D software to process your flight’s photos. In just a few clicks you can transform this imagery into geo-referenced 2D orthomosaics, 3D point clouds, triangle models and Digital Elevation Models (DEMs).

DroneDeploy is a simple cloud based software that allows anyone to create on-demand aerial drone maps in a single click.

Kespry designs a commercial-grade drone system that autonomously collects and analyzes high resolution geospatial information. It is very fast, with fully interconnected software included. It comes with an iPad, drone, limited access to Kespry cloud, and a groundstation. It is 3D printed and made of milled aluminum.

Echosec

Another interesting startup is Echosec, a new location based social media search platform owned by a Russian organization, designed to provide intelligence to public safety, security professionals, marketing, law enforcement, security and governments using crowdsourced data. It can provide actionable information on terror attacks, and law enforcement can see where tweets and Facebook posts are coming from in trying to solve crimes.

MapJam really appeals to media and publishing as well as commercial business with its next generation location mapping platform to empower brands to create and distribute customized maps with contextualized information.

SmarterBetterCities (mentioned above in the section on TomTom) offers easy to use 3D software built on ArcGIS for the creation and management of 3D cities. They call this product “CloudCities” and it allows you to configure dashboards online, drag in charts and building data. It can also host a library of scenes such as those from CityEngine and ArcGIS Pro.

FireWhat?

FireWhat? emergency disaster response for wildfires was mentioned in Monday’s plenary session during the segment on “Fire.” The application uses real-time GIS with expert sourced information specifically for fires.

Pufferfish Puffersphere

Pufferfish has created the Puffersphere, a globe that allows you to display digital content in a 3D way, on a globe, using 360 degree video. You can use the basic finger gestures of pinch and push to expand an area or retract it to zoom in or out of a desired geographic location. This is valuable for marketing and advertising, digital display and potentially many other uses where traditional flat screen media just isn’t enough.

Summary

Well established vendors’ offerings continue to push the envelope, making the most of the cloud, actionable intelligence, open source and real-time data to address the most pressing challenges of environment, safety, health and security. Startups arrive on the scene with less legacy baggage that allows them to negotiate the quick paced technology scene with enviable ease. There is a buoyancy to their presentations and enthusiasm that the larger vendors seek and embrace, and will I’m sure make its way into many future major product and application offerings.

]]>https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2015/07/29/from-the-exhibit-floor-esri-user-conference-2015/feed/04117From the Exhibit Floor at GEOINT Symposium 2015https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2015/07/01/from-the-exhibit-floor-at-geoint-symposium-2015/
https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2015/07/01/from-the-exhibit-floor-at-geoint-symposium-2015/#respondThu, 02 Jul 2015 02:29:57 +0000http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/?p=4049The exhibits at GEOINT Symposium 2015 this past week in Washington D.C. reflected the direction the government is heading with regard to new products, technologies and services.

The new government initiative of doing more with less has generated interest among a group of vendors in partnership with the Centralized Super Computer Facility (CSCF) program. Lockheed Martin, one of the vendors, has developed a Multilevel Secure ecosystem (MLS) using Red Hat Enterprise Linux 6.5+ for both single system image and for a cluster configuration. The focus of this system is to use MLS to enable data fusion and/or consolidate hardware systems rather than promote duplication.

Lockheed Martin also has an end-to-end, customizable solution for web and social media collection, processing, monitoring and analytics called LM WISDOM. Another interesting product from the company is iVIz or Intel Viz, a portable, scalable geospatial visualization tool that provides situational awareness capabilities and 2D/3D content to field users. It is not associated with a proprietary tool and makes sharing, adding and visualizing data in the field easier.

HP was also there to speak to the need for the cloud, analytics and data management, and to garner interest around HP services. As the government budget has shrunk, they are more in need of efficiencies such as the cloud and more collaborative tools. iSight is IC intelligence that provides a framework for how IT will be done in the next generation.

Orlando Figueroa, vice president, Federal Consulting and Intelligence Segment, U.S. Public Sector, of HP, feels that the federal government is moving from a climate where every agency with its own data is moving to shared data through the cloud, data warehousing and analytics. There will still be a need for an internal cloud but there will also be “community clouds,” for multiple agencies. These will still be firewalled from the rest of the world.

Altair ‘s Kirk Monroe talked about how enterprise services and IT architecture can help agencies come closer together. He said that the “gap is getting smaller,” that the government was “risk adverse, but now over 400 Fortune 500 companies have the same issues as the government. Best practices from those firms are beginning to permeate the government sector. Their security challenges are higher, but as Monroe pointed out, health care is very much like intelligence in its data challenges.

John Ratigan, president of iDirect Government, has a long career in satellite communication. Data can now be sent over a satellite link. They are using encryption, sensors built into ManPac, etc. They have the largest communication network in the military and have Combat Support Services with 4,000 terminals. “All of them are on our network, and military personnel can order everything they need this way. It can also be used to email to families, and for USO services like broadcasting football.”

More is being done from airborne platforms of “stagnant sensors,” those buried in the ground.

It was the first time at GEOINT for Pitney Bowes – MapInfo, where they demonstrated raster compression on the fly. With a 40 MB file they will not lose true resolution of data with this method.

The company has a federal sales team for selling “faster raster” as they call it. Joe Francica said the company will promote digital commerce to location intelligence. It is well positioned to do this, with its history on the Pitney Bowes side of shipping and customer engagement, and shipping is all about location. The MapInfo side comes with strong geospatial and location intelligence.

Dave Kornick, director of Geospatial Systems at Harris Government Communications Systems Division, talked about the value of the acquisition of Exelis, considering that this will bring the company closer to what they view as “the intelligent Earth,” being able to provide sensors of all varieties to monitor the Earth’s condition. Among the systems that Harris exhibited at the symposium were CorvusEye wide area motion imagery system, Geiger-mode LiDAR, object identification tracking.

Powered by Harris is the exactEarth real-time global maritime vessel tracking called exactView RT. It encompasses new satellite AIS architecture that gives real-time continuous satellite coverage for maritime. The satellites are networked together with crosslinks and communicate with multiple ground stations continually. This solution is in response for the need of real-time tracking of ships that is unavailable through a large part of the seas.

InQuisient launched some new tools at GEOINT based on its enterprise data management platform that helps government organizations mange data calls and large projects more efficiently. The Project Portfolio Insight tool provides an intelligent “big picture” solution for any large scale project portfolio management project. Using a single system and interface, users can track, review and contribute to managing numerous projects. The Data Call Central Tool is used to streamline the data call process that allows efficient collection of data from many places within the organization. The InQuisient platform is used in many intelligence organizations including the Department of Defense, and Homeland Security.

Droneware imagery content management and Knowvation geospatial intelligence from PTFS are two interesting systems demonstrated at the symposium. Droneware is a platform designed to capture, tag and manage and disseminate imagery from drones, something that didn’t exist a year ago. Droneware parses geospatial tags from sensors mounted on drones and UAS devices, from there the data is organized into an intelligent order. Knowvation GS has geospatial search and discovery capability that is used for analysis of large satellite imagery and GIS archives by intelligence and government agencies.

NJVC provides more “mission-critical” IT enterprise using cloud migration and hybrid IT enterprise management and monitoring. The company has been helping the federal enterprise since 2000.

These are just a fraction of the many companies that were represented at the symposium. Clearly, the focus is on some aspect of IT, security, spatial analytics and management of big data, that has the promise of being able to be used effectively by more stakeholders and to fill the need for timely, affordable, accessible technology to meet the ever-increasing demands of the world of geo-intelligence.

According to event organizers, hosted and produced by the United States Geospatial Intelligence Foundation (USGIF), a non-profit non-lobbying educational organization, the annual GEOINT Symposium is the nation’s largest gathering of intelligence professionals and the preeminent intelligence event of the year.

I’m making interview appointments at the moment and looking forward to seeing many of you there. Contact me, Susan Smith, Editor, susan.smith@ibsystems.com if you wish to schedule an interview. Our president, Sanjay Gangal,will also be conducting video interviews at Booth # is 3092. Please contact him at sanjay@ibsystems.com if you wish to schedule a video interview.

]]>https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2015/06/15/giscafe-at-geoint-2015/feed/04020GISCafe Special Feature Blog: Emergency Response and Recoveryhttps://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2015/03/20/giscafe-special-feature-blog-emergency-response-and-recovery/
https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2015/03/20/giscafe-special-feature-blog-emergency-response-and-recovery/#respondFri, 20 Mar 2015 22:46:49 +0000http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/?p=3880In recent years, Emergency Response and Recovery has been tasked with addressing the growing number of natural disasters and manmade disasters worldwide. When a disaster happens, the role of GIS and geospatial is front and center in the identification of location and the location of individuals impacted in the event, as well as the clarification of the physical damage to vital structures. It is also fundamental to the provision of medical care and utilities during a time when those things may be scarce or non-existent.

In gathering information for this article, I was surprised by the depth of the responses. As a result, this article will outline not only geospatial technologies available, but the importance of different solutions for interoperability, location, 3D urban models, technology designed for local responders, traffic jam data, field applications and much more.

The offerings from some of the smaller providers round out the solutions from the bigger companies with some very insightful perspectives on the bigger picture of emergency response.

Services and Products

Chris McIntosh, Emergency Management Industry Manager said that when disaster strikes, Esri’s Disaster Response Program (DRP) Disaster Relief is there to support responders around the clock, 24 x 7. “Request assistance from Esri experts, augment software, explore content, and monitor events online as part of our corporate citizenship. We’re there when responders need us most,” he said.

According to Kalyn Sims, Vice President of Public Safety Products, Intergraph SG&I, Intergraph provides extensive solutions for public safety, security and emergency management. These include integrated capabilities for public safety dispatching, law enforcement records management, data reporting and analysis, physical security information management and field solutions, including mobile apps. Also included are geospatial visualization, analysis and information management capabilities for emergency planning, preparedness and recovery.

Intergraph states that the foundation for public safety, security and emergency management operations is a common operational picture (COP). By referencing data to a common spatial framework, a COP provides a comprehensive, up-to-the-minute view of the situation on the ground, fusing static mapping with real-time data feeds, often from multiple agencies and organizations.

The COP’s spatial framework helps the operator understand situations more quickly by showing the locational context of an incident and providing links to supplementary information that can help determine whether action is required. It also enables spatial analysis techniques to be applied to real-time data to automate and streamline processes, saving vital time; for example, optimizing the locations of responders to enable shortest response times across a service area.

In the news just this past week was a collaboration announcement between Intergraph and Esri to enhance geospatial capabilities for public safety and security agencies. Through this collaboration the companies will work together to align Intergraph’s Computer-Aided Dispatch system, I/CAD and Esri’s ArcGIS platform.

TomTom’s content is used by their partners who provide various visualization solutions implemented in a wide range of applications, including emergency management and response. TomTom develops, maintains and distributes advanced navigable map data for 127 countries throughout the world. They also provide real-time traffic information for 46 countries.

Trimble offers a variety of modeling and analysis software that enables assessment and visualization of existing, planned, and changed environments, both built and natural, according to Rick Gosalvez, market manager, Trimble Local Government. Some of Trimble’s visualization solutions include SketchUp for easy rendering and modeling, Inpho UASMaster for rapid aerial mapping, eCognition for rapid land classification and advanced change analysis, and Trimble Feedback for centralized review and visualization of crowdsourced data collected from the public.

Trimble UX5

Seamless image capture and image analysis technology enables governments to collect a massive amount of data and mine it for useful information in a short amount of time. For example, eCognition consumes Trimble UX5 imagery and compares it to historical aerial images to conduct change analysis for emergency response planning.

Smaller companies with significant emergency response offerings include the following:

Pictometry, an EagleView Company, offers RapidAccess, an emergency response program offering immediate flights after an emergency or disaster. Within days, Pictometry can capture high-resolution aerial imagery post event, allowing users to view damage quickly in support of rescue, recovery and assessment efforts. It enables emergency teams to prioritize response with the help of up-to-date, high resolution imagery within days of the disaster, helping to get people back on track quickly.

International Computer Works, Inc. (ICW) provides data conversion, software, training and support. Specifically, GeoNENA and GeoCAD911 provide direct application to the construction of the 911 database for the PSAP and a real time map display with address recommendations for use in dispatching for calls originating from a mobile device.

CubeWerx OpenImageMap

CubeWerx is a geospatial products and services company offering rapid cloud-based hosting, processing and delivery of aerial imagery through Open APIs. Cubewerx OpenImageMap is an innovative, collaborative platform for deploying any volume of geospatial imagery and then delivering it seamlessly through multiple Open APIs, protected by a robust and security layer.

OpenImageMap is a collaborative image tiling platform that provides a cloud-hosted geospatial platform where multiple stake-holders can post aerial imagery, process it and serve it out as a combined map via standard APIs like Google Maps, Bing, OGC Services (WMS and WMTS) etc.

Maptitude Generic GIS and mapping software is designed to model 3D environments within a GIS system at no additional cost. This makes it possible for even small communities to model their towns to be better prepared for emergency events.

In an emergency, you need accurate data quickly. You don’t have time to hunt for it; you need to be able to access information to support critical decisions with only a few interactions. AOP makes interagency intelligence, crowdsourced social media feeds and associated map data accessible with a tap, click or targeted search.

deployment of public safety assets using GIS technology. Over 200 organizations have already reduced response times to routine 9-1-1 incidents and improved compliance with organizational response goals through a better understanding of demand patterns and response capabilities.

According to Chris Bradshaw, vice president of Marketing, “Our newest version of MARVLIS is extending these same benefits to law enforcement organizations by providing unique, tiered crime forecasts to improve the actions that lead to meaningful results in reducing crimes.”

MARVLIS from BCS uses ArcGIS technology to forecast demand hotspots for an entire jurisdiction several times each hour. These automatically updated demand surfaces visualize changing patterns similar to the way meteorologists visualize and forecast weather patterns. Vehicle GPS locations are superimposed on the demand grid along with a dynamic vector service area to identify resource response capabilities along with the expected demand.

Tony Isaacs vice president, Business Development described their company as follows: “PLW Modelworks provides geospecific, geolocated 3D urban models from our Melbourne, FL offices as content that can be used for any purpose, including Emergency Response and Recovery Solutions. Our 3D models are simulation ready and we work with our clients to provide customized optimizations for them.”

What the Future Will Look Like

McIntosh notes that “The future of Emergency Management surrounds the use of mission focused applications that allow responders to access, share, and visualize information how they need it, when they need it, and where you need it.”

Coming up to the plate, modern technologies, web GIS, the cloud, and the rise of apps have combined to bring powerful emergency response solutions into reach for most customers. Variations in implementations from completely hosted to “on premise” environments allow municipalities and communities to configure solutions that accurately meet their needs.

According to Kenneth Clay, marketing manager, TomTom, “a critical component of emergency response is the ability to quickly and accurately identify the location of the situation. TomTom produces real-time maps, meaning they more closely mimic real-world conditions. The company is able to accomplish this mission through a hybrid approach that optimizes professional mapmaking through the use of community input from hundreds of millions of map users.”

The critical location and transportation information TomTom incorporates comes from mobile mapping vans, field survey, authoritative resources, probe data and sensors. These resources are fused through a transactional mapmaking engine, producing map changes that are distributed regularly. “This ensures our partners have access to the most recent map changes,” said Clay.

The future of Emergency Response, according to Clay, is an improved ability to find the location of interest, coupled with improved drive-time efficiency derived from real-time views of current traffic conditions.

“I see Emergency Response continuing to mature and take advantage of new technologies to provide superior levels of service at times of need,” said Isaacs. “As hardware becomes more powerful and inexpensive more sophisticated scenario planning using advanced simulation software with content such as PLW 3D urban models can be used to best prepare for an emergency. In addition, real-time systems can take advantage of these and other technological advances to provide actionable information to those involved in the management of emergency response resources. These sophisticated systems are occurring at all levels of the government.”

Sims says that the move toward Next Generation 911 presents enormous challenges and opportunities. “Soon, citizens will use voice, text, video, photos and even social media to “call” 911. Public safety answering points (PSAPs) will also receive information from vehicle telematics, intelligent roadway systems, citizen medical information services and other sensors and services.”

This wealth of information has the capability to improve response decisions and increase the safety of first responders, according to Sims. It also has the possibility of overwhelming the PSAP. It is critical that dispatch systems manage this data so that it can be used efficiently by call-takers, dispatchers and first responders. Intergraph has developed software that will help integrate call control and call-taker functions in one environment and integrate voice and text calls with video and photo attachments for better situational awareness.

Latitude Geographics states that stakeholder interoperability during incident response is an important goal. Achieving the use of standard alerting protocols and sensor web integration will play a large role in the years ahead. Programs such as UICDS, XchangeCore, MASAS-X (Canada), Oasis, Virtual USA and others are striving to provide necessary data to the responder community, with others expected to come on board in the future.

According to Ken Tozier, GISP International Computer Works, Inc., “The future of Emergency Response is in the field. Direct updates to central, shared databases and maps by field personnel and first responders. More of this will be automated and produced in real-time as sensors and tracking technology improves.”

“Rapid information after an emergency is critical,” said Scott Sherwood, vice president, Corporate Sales Enablement, Pictometry. “The ability to see pre- and post-event imagery allows response teams to work effectively and efficiently. With ever changing weather and other uncontrollable events, response teams need to have procedures in places, such as RapidAccess, to know they can obtain accurate geo-coded imagery immediately to gather needed data and intelligence. The need for this type of high-resolution imagery and the ability to view it within days will only grow in demand.”

What we will most likely see also are more collaborations between major geospatial organizations such as the one between Esri and Intergraph.

Market Changes

The rise of applications are bringing GIS mainstream, says McIntosh. “Now the market is being driven by mission focused apps that leverage the power of the GIS that are in the hands of responders.”

According to Latitude, there is a growing need for better interoperability, mobile solutions, real-time data, social media integration, decision support and more.

“The change we have seen in emergency response mapping is the need to be able to rapidly map data, out-of-the-box, and to have the tools needed at their finger-tips to analyze geospatial data immediately,” says CEO Stewart Berry. “Maptitude meets those needs.”

Along the same lines, Sherwood says “speed to delivery and the expectations associated with that are escalating. As technology has grown, so the market looks to providers to be able to deliver rapidly after a disaster in a scalable way that fits within current workflows.”

Isaacs said there is more demand for 3D content for Emergency Response solutions at the municipal and community levels as well as from providers of simulation software for this market.

And Bradshaw of BCS reminds us that, all emergency responses are ultimately supported by a finite group of local, or extended mutual-aid, responders. “While it is tempting to focus efforts on the occasional large disasters that make headlines, technology that helps local dispatchers, resource deployment managers, and incident managers to utilize these resources most effectively in their daily operations is most beneficial. Regular use returns the greatest value by maximizing operational budgets throughout the year. This familiarity with the application also means it can be adapted for special occasions whether planned or unplanned.”

Resilient cities are those that will bounce back after a major disaster, according to Trimble’s Golsavez “To accomplish resiliency, governments will require properly planned infrastructure and programs to quickly assess impacts caused by major events. With UAS, mobile imaging and remote sensing technologies, governments will be able to quickly accomplish damage assessments in order to prioritize response efforts from a macro to micro scale. These technologies are available today and getting better quickly”.

With technology that allows governments to easily capture conditions for their built and natural environments, governments will be in a position to be more resilient because they will be able to quickly compare before and after impacts of events and programs.

The market has significantly changed with the advent of modern in-vehicle navigation and smartphone technologies, according to Clay of TomTom. “These technologies denote that emergency response solutions are not only lower cost, but also reach the public more effectively than previous technologies.”

Costs

More affordable Emergency Response solutions are predicted for the future for municipalities and communities. All respondents agree that trends like mobility and the cloud, platforms such as smartphones and tablets to empower field personnel to send and receive real-time information as part of an enterprise information system, all conspire to make Emergency Response solutions more accessible, timely and cost-effective.

A significant portion of past spending in public safety has been based on grants that are now becoming less accessible. Organizations are increasingly being required to live within budgets. Preferred solutions will be those that can show a record of saving money and improving agency performance.

“I think that the cost of hardware capable of running the systems used for Emergency Response will continue to decrease and that software solutions will continue to become more sophisticated and affordable over time,” said Isaacs. “Also, the effectiveness of Emergency Response solutions will continue to improve in both the scenario planning and actual crisis management areas which will allow municipalities and communities to obtain stakeholder buy-in for the expected costs.”

Clay notes that a key component of TomTom’s sourcing strategy is the use of anonymous GPS-based probe data. This probe data comes from personal navigation devices, third party applications and fleet solutions, smartphones. “When compared to traditional detection and survey methods,” said Clay, “Use of probe data has proven equally effective from a quality perspective, yet much more cost effective by foregoing manpower and fleet expenses associated with driving surveys or Bluetooth deployments.”

Tozier says, “Costs may not change, but with NG911 the ability to accurately respond to calls for emergency services for the protection of life, limb and property will improve. The shift to GIS as the basis for building the digital model vs traditional tabular databases have the strong potential for the creation of accurate and precise databases.”

Game Changers in the Industry

Emergency management organizations face tremendous challenges meeting greater demands with fewer resources. Esri’s common operation platform supports the complex mission of preventing, protecting against, mitigating, responding to and recovering from threats and hazards. Communities will also be able to connect up with local, state, national and international agencies that support the mission.

“The availability of data and the ability to quickly deliver that data in a focused way to operators on any device at any time will fundamentally change the way that we do business,” says Esri’s Chris McIntosh.

Vector Grid with Hurricane Wind and Pressure DataFeatured Map – June 2013This Maptitude map shows a color theme of wind and a scaled symbol theme of pressure based on historical hurricane track vector data. The map comes from Prof. Grant Thrall’s video, Part 2: Vector To Raster Grid Conversion: Calculation of Risk to Real Estate. Nuclear Power Plant Disasters in the U.S.? Maptitude maps featured in MapCruzin.com report.

Maptitude includes the ability to model 3D environments within a GIS system at no additional cost: 3D mapping . This allows even small communities to model their towns to be better prepared for emergency situations.

“Change detection is game changing in emergency response,” says Sherwood of Pictometry. “Not only can Pictometry provide rapid high-resolution imagery within days, but they can also follow that with ongoing change analysis for the county. It is third-party verification of change that was create by the disaster or emergency. For flooding or storms, this is critical, not just for the initial response, but for ongoing assessment after the emergency.”

Intergraph has a long history of innovation in emergency response. “For example, we were the first vendor to offer a dispatch system with a fully integrated map and geographic database,” says Sims.

Most geospatial companies that offer Emergency Response solutions work with other geospatial companies to enhance the strength of their services.

Will Climate Change Driven Storms Result in Fukushima-Like Nuclear Power Plant Disasters in the U.S.?Featured Map – January 2013Maptitude maps are featured in a MapCruzin.com report on the likelihood that flooding at dozens of nuclear reactors could result in a Fukushima-like disaster in the U.S.MapCruzin

An example is, ICW, that offers an economical real time map display along with the tools with which to build the data used in the system running in a MapInfo Professional platform. Regional data sharing does not have to be GIS brand dependent. On the contrary, data portability across platforms is the key.

PLW Modelworks works with geospatial software companies such as ESRI and Autodesk to provide 3D urban model content optimized for their platforms. Combined with the advances and cost efficiencies in hardware, these optimizations allow more sophisticated simulation, tracking and real-time solutions to be offered to end-users. PLW can also utilize multiple input sources such as UAV or mobile mapping data to create and/or enhance their 3D urban models.

TomTom provides real-time map content that contains the most up-to-date depiction of the road network that is commercially available. The company also offers real time traffic content with average speeds and incident data available every minute.

“With access to real-time maps and traffic content from TomTom, and the adoption of weather content, partner solutions can more accurately depict current transportation conditions, thus leading to more efficient Emergency Response,” says Clay.

Summary

All those in Federal, state, county and local governments can benefit and save lives with an efficient Emergency Response template in place. Utilities, water, and environmental industries, homeland security, border control, public safety, security and emergency management organizations, fleet tracking, usage-based insurance, resource management, disaster relief, agriculture, mining, oil and gas, forestry who are dependent upon having access to the most recent information in rapidly changing scenarios are potential and real customers for advancements in Emergency Response.

The future of Emergency Response is now; each day another opportunity arises to exercise the muscles of the new technologies and learn more about what will be needed for faster response, 24/7 coverage, data reporting and physical security, and how to address recovery and much more. With new 3D cities technologies in place, governments and agencies will also be able to build more resilient cities to withstand whatever emergencies befall them.

]]>https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2015/03/20/giscafe-special-feature-blog-emergency-response-and-recovery/feed/03880Special Blog Coverage of 3D Cities Coming in November!https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2014/10/20/special-blog-coverage-of-3d-cities-coming-in-november/
https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2014/10/20/special-blog-coverage-of-3d-cities-coming-in-november/#respondMon, 20 Oct 2014 13:41:35 +0000http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/?p=3651During the week of November 17th, GISCafe Voice will run a special feature blog on the topic, “3D Cities: Envisioning Communities of the Future.”

Cities worldwide are charged with the same challenge: that of creating or retrofitting sustainable, intelligent infrastructure. Cities need the best in design, geospatial, visualization and analytical tools to realize a viable and intelligent city design. 3D City design is architectural design times thousands, plus it must have the ability to be interwoven with other surrounding infrastructure and foster an urban conversation.

Urban data must be managed, visualized and analyzed, considering all legal, code regulations, utility and site planning as well as legacy data and geography. Open standards such as CityGML bring open data model and XML-based format for the storage and exchange of virtual 3D city models from the Open Geospatial Consortium (OGC) and ISO TC211. A plethora of companies are providing products for 3D cityscape technology, and providing GIS to be able to manage, visualize and analyze all the information that makes up an entire metropolis.

In an effort to cover all companies offering 3D Cities software and solutions, I have compiled a 3D Cities Special Coverage Questionnaire to be filled out and returned to me at susan.smith@ibsystems.com
Also feel free to add to this any relevant content, images and/or videos to illustrate points. Please include the name of your company and contact information. We look forward to including you in our coverage.

]]>https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2014/10/20/special-blog-coverage-of-3d-cities-coming-in-november/feed/03651MapPoint for location intelligence discontinuedhttps://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2014/08/07/mappoint-for-location-intelligence-discontinued/
https://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/2014/08/07/mappoint-for-location-intelligence-discontinued/#respondThu, 07 Aug 2014 20:33:51 +0000http://www10.giscafe.com/blogs/gissusan/?p=3468Microsoft’s flagship mapping product, MapPoint, will be discontinued, along with AutoRoute, Streets & Trips December 31, 2014. Online support will be available for the latter product through July 14, 2015. The MapPoint product offered offline routing and basic business analytics. There were problems with its delivery, it appears, as it was on a two-year upgrade cycle rather than the more frequent updates offered by competing software packages.

There has not been much press or an official announcement from Microsoft, only mentioned on the official Microsoft landing pages for MapPoint and Streets & Trips (via Neowin). Microsoft has decided to discontinue Microsoft AutoRoute, Microsoft Streets & Trips and Microsoft MapPoint.

In 1988 Mark Atherton and Ian Mercer started building what would one day become the very popular Microsoft mapping software products. Together with Simon Anthony, Michael Biscoe-Taylor, and George Roussopolos the team, which started NextBase Limited, was self-funded and supplemented their efforts with outside jobs while they spent seven months coding what was to become the first version of AutoRoute.

Microsoft MapPoint allows users to view, edit, and integrate maps by facilitating the geographical visualization and analysis of either included data or custom data. The initial release came in the form of MapPoint 2000, which has been improved and enhanced approximately every two years.

Here’s what users of MapPoint are told to do after the product is no longer with us:

Need data visualization and analysis? PowerBI for Excel and Sharepoint.

Are you a developer? Bing Maps API and SDKs including AJAX V7 Control, Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF) Control for desktop, REST Services, and Spatial Data Services.

Caliper’s Maptitude is a location-intelligence offering that covers all the areas that MapPoint covered, with a full featured mapping application. It is a desktop mapping software (US$695) that does not incur monthly or annual fees for cloud services as it is a one-time software purchase. There are frequent software releases.

Maptitude employs new data for new location-based analytics. It has the latest features and demographics, including the annual updates to nationwide counts from the U.S. Census and American Community Survey (ACS).

According to Steve Hendel, director of Market Planning for Office Depot, “I believe that Caliper’s Maptitude continues to provide more GIS-related features and more flexibility in defining and presenting data and map layers than MapPoint does.”

1) What current enabling technologies is the new 2012 release relying on or maximizing in order to offer specific functionality?

The latest Maptitude has completely new tools for street-based analysis. Maptitude uses extremely efficient and compact “network” data structures that are optimized for storage and the rapid processing of algorithms such as those for finding the best path or creating drive-time zones.

The updated NAVTEQ MAPS™ data in Maptitude allows the user to calculate accurate routes and includes information on a wide variety of road attributes such as one-way streets, tunnels, underpasses, and overpasses. You can create street-based rings using travel distance, time, or cost, where the cost can be any combination of factors such as distance, time, or your own values such as actual dollar cost of travel.

The drive-time rings tool has been completely overhauled and is now a simple toolbox that provides the most accurate results on the market. In addition, the tool automatically calculates Census 2010 demographics for the travel time bands, allowing a clear understanding of service areas.

The revamped shortest path toolbox also has several major enhancements including continuous live routing as you drag the mouse over the map. This provides the user with instant feedback on the shortest or fastest routes.2) What would you say is the single most important new feature of the release?

The most important new feature is the provision of updated demographics. Caliper Corporation leads the industry in the processing and release of Census data. The 2010 Census and ACS data are included with Maptitude 2012 for most boundaries. These include U.S. Census Tracts, MCDs, MSAs, Counties, ZIP Codes, and States, while Block Groups and Blocks are available for purchase as nationwide layers.

Since 1995 the Maptitude Mapping Software has made it easy to access a wealth of U.S. Census data for the entire country. With Maptitude you can quickly visualize Census demographics using a suite of wizard-driven tools.

3) Does 2012 work on mobile devices and iPads, etc.?

Maptitude runs on Windows, while Maptitude for the Web applications are accessible via browser-based interfaces on mobile devices.

4) How is the new addition of Census Data used by your customers?

Users are able to explore the most up-to-date U.S. demographics and how these relate to their areas of interest. Maptitude provides a map library that contains pre-designed maps listed by Census category, removing the complexity associated with identifying, manipulating, and visualizing fields of Census data. A user can choose one or more thematic maps of population, social, economic, and housing data by ZIP Code, Tract, County, and State, and can quickly analyze these demographics for any location they specify.

5) Does the product still offer a lot of free data?

Unlike many other mapping and GIS software packages that require separate data purchases, Maptitude includes extensive geographic and demographic information so that users can get started as soon as they open the box.

Up-to-date U.S. datasets are provided, including a NAVTEQ street layer that allows accurate address locating and street visualization, plus robust data on which to calculate best routes and drive-time zones.

Other new U.S. layers include urban building footprints, highways, railroads, landmarks, and the latest quarter of nationwide ZIP Codes. The points-of-interest layer contains over 2 million named locations that range from public facilities to commercial buildings including shops, restaurants, and retail stores.

All of the 2010 U.S. Census boundaries that are included with Maptitude, plus 3- and 5-digit ZIP Code areas, contain several demographic and economic variables based on the 2010 Census and the American Community Survey. These include race, gender, age, ethnicity, household, and income fields.

6) Who are most of your customers?

Our customers are as diverse as spreadsheet and database users, with organizations of all sizes and types realizing organizational benefits when exploring their data with Maptitude. The range and variety of Maptitude users can be seen in our News & Reviews section of our web site: http://www.caliper.com/ovunews.htm

7) What is the cost of the new release?

A new single user license of Maptitude costs US$695, while an upgrade costs US$395.

Most organizations are not necessarily geospatially adept, yet they understand the need for some geographic information to either make their businesses run better or to add interactive web mapping to their web sites. In city and county agencies, there is also the need for tools for creating and analyzing redistricting data for districts, and for elections and precincts, there is the necessity to manage the vast amount of data that is collected and aggregated during elections.

Maptitude Image Geocode Census Map

The new version of Maptitude, Maptitude 6.0, is a data visualization and geographic analysis tool that helps organizations understand the impact of geography on their organizations. The newest version includes extensive geographic and demographic data so that you can get started as soon as you open the box. Data are provided in a compact geographic data format that reduces data storage requirements and reduces network traffic. According to Stewart Berry, mapping software product manager, the new version of Maptitude is a “complete refresh” in terms of maps and graphics, routing, database and performance.

Maptitude Network Bands Map

Maptitude has specialized versions for those who need to add various capabilities to their sites. Maptitude for the Web allows you to add interactive mapping to your web site.

Maptitude for Redistricting includes tools for creating, analyzing, and mapping congressional, state legislative, city council, county commission, school, water, or any other type of districts.

Maptitude for Precinct and Election Management combines sophisticated mapping software, an easy-to-use interface, and a wide array of customized data to create a complete precinct and election management solution.

GISCafe Voice: What current enabling technologies is the new release 6.0 relying on or maximizing in order to offer specific functionality?

Stewart Berry: The latest Maptitude is a complete refresh in terms of maps and graphics, database handling, routing functionality, data, and performance.

The graphics improvements include a new automatic map labeling engine as well as better style display and output options such as transparency.

The underlying relational database has been expanded to allow one-to-many non-aggregate joins, which are critical in analyses such as querying the employees at a site(s). Support for additional formats, such as Microsoft SQL Server Spatial, reinforces the robustness of the Maptitude database engine in distributed environments.

Accessing and visualizing image layers is a core aspect of the new capabilities provided in 6.0, with new features such as interpolation and smoothing. Maptitude now supports several open and international standards including OpenGIS Web Map Service (WMS) imagery.

GISCafe Voice: What would you say is the single most important new feature of the release?

Berry: The single most important new feature of the release is unlimited geocoding (address locating) and drive-time zones based on high quality and accurate street data. Address geocoding is fundamental to decisions based on geographic data. Maptitude provides tools to assess and review match success rates based on updatable and reliable street data, while providing alternative levels of accuracy and modifiable geocoding rules.

GISCafe Voice: Does 6.0 work on mobile devices such as iPads, etc.?

Berry: Maptitude runs on Windows, and Maptitude for the Web applications are accessible via browser-based interfaces on other devices.

GISCafe Voice: How is the new addition of U.S. Census Data used by your customers?

Berry: Users are able to explore the most up-to-date U.S. demographics and how these relate to their areas of interest. They can quickly visualize Census information using a suite of wizard-driven tools. Maptitude also provides a map library that contains pre-designed maps listed by Census category. These include thematic maps of demographic, social, economic, and housing data by ZIP Code, Tract, County, and State. The Map Librarian lets users open one or more of these maps, allowing them to quickly analyze U.S. Census data for their chosen location.

GISCafe Voice: Does the product still offer a lot of free data?

Berry: Unlike many other mapping and GIS software packages that require separate data purchases, Maptitude includes extensive geographic and demographic information so that users can get started as soon as they open the box.

New U.S. data sets provide access to up-to-date geographic information. Maptitude now includes a NAVTEQ street layer, allowing accurate address locating and street visualization, plus robust data on which to calculate best routes and drive-time zones.

Other new U.S. layers include urban building footprints, highways, railroads, landmarks, and the latest quarter of nationwide ZIP Codes. The points of interest layer contains over 2 million named locations that range from public facilities to commercial buildings including shops, restaurants, and retail stores.

All of the 2010 U.S. Census boundaries that are included with Maptitude, plus 3- and 5-digit ZIP Code areas, contain several demographic and economic variables based on the 2010 Census and the American Community Survey. These include race, gender, age, ethnicity, household, and income fields.

GISCafe Voice: Who are most of your customers?

Berry: Our customers are as diverse as spreadsheet users, with organizations of all sizes and types realizing benefits when exploring their data with Maptitude.

GISCafe Voice: What is the cost of the new release?

Berry: A new single user license of Maptitude costs US$695, while an upgrade costs US$395.